The task of making disciples is becoming increasingly more challenging as North America becomes less and less spiritually inclined. The following is a brief summary of the sobering reality the church faces in the 21st century as the church seeks to be faithful and fruitful to the mission Jesus has given us.

As many as 80 to 85 percent, if not higher of American churches are plateaued or dying.[1] The numbers reveal that between sixty-nine percent (69%) and ninety-four percent (94%) of churched young people will leave the church after graduating from high school, and few will return.[2] A study done recently with young adults between the ages of eighteen- to thirty-year-olds indicated that more than two-thirds of these young adults in America were dropping out of church between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two.[3]

Additionally, the following is a breakdown of the unchurched by generation. The unchurched are “those who are not members of a church or have not attended services in the previous six months.”[4]